Marshall to close five dealerships and used car centre

Marshall Motor Holdings has proposed the closure of five franchised dealerships and one used car centre, in a move that will cost £6m in impairments.

The dealerships of Honda Mountsorrel (Leicestershire), Nissan Boston (Lincolnshire) and Vauxhall Welwyn Garden City (Hertfordshire) are situated in “relatively small markets”, but close to other Marshall dealerships of the same franchise, which the group hopes will allow to retain existing customer base.

The closure of Citroen Cambridge, meanwhile, will mark Marshall’s departure from franchising with Citroen. Marshall will still maintain authorised repairer status in Cambridge from Citroen.

Finally, Marshall is closing down a site in Oxford which contains a Maserati dealership and a used car centre. The group said that the site’s high fixed cost base is “not sustainable in the longer term”.

Together, the six businesses are expected to net a negative £1.3m in pre-tax profits for 2017, against £40m in revenues.

Marshall said the decision had been made “with the full support and approval of the group’s brand partners.”

Daksh Gupta, chief executive officer of Marshall, said: “These proposed closures are in line with the group’s stated strategy of driving class leading returns and will support our 2018 financial aspirations. This decisive action reflects the board’s focus on tight financial discipline whilst investing in and supporting our businesses.

“Over coming weeks we will be engaging with colleagues in these businesses and will be seeking to mitigate the impact where possible.”